A Splendid Salmagundi is a delicious salad of short stories seasoned with a light dusting of poems, covering a variety of genres. You will find one or two true stories, some humour, some horror, fantasy, adventure and science fiction. Many are Amazon published authors whose work you may already have read. Others will soon be favourites.

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I wasn't intending to write a review of this, but the myriad of glowing five-star reviews from friends of the authors (as you too would know if, like me, you had checked the book out on Goodreads) means I feel obliged to give an honest assessment.

I read about half of the book. The stories ranged from average to quite poor and the poetry was much the same. As people have said, this is a sampler, but I'm afraid that it didn't tempt me to find out more about the work of the contributing authors. The best stories of the ones I read were the two by Lexie Conyngham (whose books I already know and enjoy), but even these were too short to make much of an impact.

Sorry to be a party-pooper but I feel potential purchasers have the right to some honest reviews amongst the self-praise and back-slapping.

I finished reading this book this morning. I was impressed by the quality of the writing and there are so many stories in this book that it will keep you busy for sometime reading it all! There is something for everyone here - humour, romance, horror, mystery. As I read it I laughed, I cried and was constantly surprised by twists to the endings. An excellent collection of quality writing. Well done to all who contributed!

Very compelling mixture of short stories and poetry of a very high standard and considerable variety - it's almost impossible to resist starting the next one as soon as you finish one. Humorous, frightening, thought-provoking.

A fun book of short stories and poems! I enjoyed some more than others but isn't that the way. Jenny Shaw is a stand out author and I can't wait until she gives in to my demands and quits her job to become a full time author ;)

I don't know exactly why it is so, and it does not really matter, but those two little eyes peering out from the hidey-hole on the bole of the oak tree on the front cover of this fine anthology really tickle me. There is something engaging about them that seems to perfectly capture the character of this tastefully eclectic salad of writerly talent.

This is not one of the numberless kissass covers to be found at every e-turn from rising authors stutting their 'brand'. I wonder which genius decided that authors now have to be brands? For some reason those two little eyes a-peering out really make me want me to peer into their realm. What shy little creature lurks within?

This is good. I am won more by those two little eyes than by a No.1. cacophany of tartly-branded visual hammer blows. Yes, I am a-judging a book by its cover. But then those two little eyes a-peering out really do make my eyes want to peer in. Because... I do not know why, and it does not matter. All I know is this, if you look at those two eyes for long enough, I swear to you that you will see them blink.

I know this is all a double rum, but I instinctively sense there is a link between those two little bewtiching eyes and the nature of the art to be found within the e-covers of A Splendid Salmagundi, an art which will charm-e the eyes of all those curious enough and wise enough to want to taste it.

The joy of reading anthologies is not knowing what will grab you until you stumbles into its outstretched arms and are half hugged to death by it. You dip in, you try a bit of this, a bit of that on a read-one-like-one-read-one-maybe-read-one-love-one-basis. It wld be a very picky reader indeed who does not find a good few read-one-love-ones here-e. You just don't know what's coming. It's a fairground of writerly rides and coconut shies. You can lose yourself in a book like this. You can hop around. It's great. A reading holiday. A change. New weather. A break from the all the know-where-you-are genres.

Yes, this is not kickass branded product, with a nailed-down narrative gunning for a film deal (yawn). That said, it has most definitely been painstakingly and lovingly arranged by an editor with a fine sense of creative balance - an art in itself - and I commend it to you strongly in the hope that you will enjoy it and in turn re-commend it to your friends, suggest it to your book group, e-gift it to your relatives in chilly Moose Jaw this Christmas, tweet it to Stephen Fry, facebook it, spread the word, Salmagundi, Salmagundi.

Just look into those little front cover eyes. If you see them blink - which I swear you will - have a look inside. You are sure to find something to charm your eyes. I know which is my absolute fave story is and my two next faves, but I am not going to tell you as that wld spoilt if for you and we most certainly can't have that. *add to your trolly now!*

The book was described as a delicious salad, and that is a perfect description. As with all salads there are some items that appeal more than others according to taste. Its also a lovely opportunity to try a different genre and find you liked it. I really enjoyed the book overall and there are authors in there that I will definitely read more of. It was a good mix and I liked the way the poetry and stories were placed giving a reflective breathing space between the chapters. Tasty!

This is a great collection of stories and poems. I read the whole book in one sitting, such is the quality of the writing and the fantastic variations in the stories which kept my interest throughout. I think this is great value for money and will help introduce its contributing authors to a whole range of new fans. Look forward to more releases!